How Long To Hibernate A Youngster?

Hi
My Hermann tortoise is 13 months old and I'm thinking about hibernation, my breeder said she hibernated her last year for two weeks. How long should I hibernate her this year please? She's healthy weighs 45g and is 6 cm long.

Are you sure you've not misunderstood your breeder as two weeks isn't long for hibernation, that sounds more like the wind down period, it's best to hibernate them for a minimum of 8 weeks, as long as her weight stays stable etc, have you done some research on hibernation.

Hi thanks for the reply. Yes I have been researching hibernation and that's why I was querying the time they need to stay asleep. The breeder said that the hatchling was hibernated for two weeks last year, I got her in January when she was 5 months. I contacted the breeder to ask how long this year and she said 2-3 weeks. I just presumed from this that the time in hibernation related to the size/age of the tortoise but haven't read this anywhere so decided to ask all you seasoned tort owners! 😀

I would say 2/3 weeks isn't really long enough, they take some time to settle into hibernation, you could always hibernate her and as long as her weight stays good leave her up to the 8 weeks, you can always wake her up earlier if needed.

Hi thanks for the reply. Yes I have been researching hibernation and that's why I was querying the time they need to stay asleep. The breeder said that the hatchling was hibernated for two weeks last year, I got her in January when she was 5 months. I contacted the breeder to ask how long this year and she said 2-3 weeks. I just presumed from this that the time in hibernation related to the size/age of the tortoise but haven't read this anywhere so decided to ask all you seasoned tort owners!

2-3 weeks is not hibernation as it takes longer than this for them to settle into true hibernation status. I would guess that your 'breeder' is new to breeding and maybe not done a lot of research. It's certainly very unusual advice. Anything less than 8 weeks really isn't worth doing in my book. In nature they would be down for 2 months minimum from the first year. Age has nothing to do with this.